Since a couple of years, the ATV market has been growing steadily. Moreover, ATV users have been using their vehicles for new tasks such as snow removal, load transport, etc. To help ATV users make the fullest use of their vehicles, numerous accessories have been put on the market. For example, snow plow assemblies, traction kits, carrying cases, trailer hitches, etc.
However, in order for the ATV user to use an accessory to its full capacity, the accessory must be easy to use and more importantly, easy to install. In the field of support frame assemblies for snow plows and other front-mounted implements, this is even more important since these assemblies are generally relatively heavy and thus difficult to manipulate and install.
Support frame assemblies currently on the market are not easy and/or are time consuming to install. In the vast majority of cases, when the user is alone, he or she (hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, only the masculine form will be used) must use brute force to install the frame assembly on his ATV. This comes from the fact that all the weight of the plow assembly rests on the ground. Thus, the user must overcome the friction force between the ground and the plow. Moreover, since snow plows are generally made of metal, they can be relatively heavy and the friction force between the ground and the plow can be relatively large.
Thus, in general, most frame assemblies currently on the market are more easily installed when two or more individuals are present.
Finally, in current frame assemblies, the pivotal connection between the plow and the frame assembly is usually located near the ground, making it difficult for the plow to follow the irregularities of the ground surface over which the plow is operated. The ATV is also more prone to sudden stops when the plow hits small obstacles. In that sense, when a plow mounted to a current frame assembly hits a small obstacle, the speed of the ATV typically significantly reduced, causing the wheels to spin, sometimes to the point of losing all traction and stopping the vehicle. Plows mounted to current frame assemblies can hardly follow a rough terrain because they operates only in two positions, namely when the plow is straight or flipped.
In view of the foregoing, there is indeed a need for a new and improved support frame assembly for a plow or other implement which mitigates at least some of the shortcoming of prior art support frame assemblies.